I have an HP Pavilion with Windows 98. When I try to turn it on it gets to the HP logo screen and shuts off. No messages or anything. Any ideas? GeorgeT

Open up the case, and try booting the computer. If the cpu fan is not spinning, on many mboards when no rpm is detected from the fan within x (a small number) of seconds, the mboard will shut down to protect the cpu from overheating. If the cpu fan spins and you have been fiddling inside the case recently, make sure the three hole connector from the fan is connected to the three pin header for the cpu fan, for the same reason. If that appears to be okay, it's probably your power supply. How do you tell if the PS is malfunctioning or dead? The best way is to borrow a known good PS with enough capacity and try it, or try your PS in a working computer. Make sure all the wire colors and numbers of wires on the main connector from the PS are the same - if they are not one PS is not compatible with the other! If you can't do that.... If the computer or PS will not start...... Sniff the PS fan outlet area with the power off - a strong burnt wiring / burnt plasticy smell indicates the PS has been overheating or has been malfunctioning, regardless of whether the PS fan is spinning properly. Try turning the PS fan from the back of the case with a pencil or something slim - it should move in jumps, but be easy to turn - if it is hard to turn, the fan has stopped, the PS has overheated and fried itself, and the PS has died. If the PS or computer starts up .... Look in your bios Setup at the current voltages (if you have the monitoring chipset for that) - +3.3, +5, and +12 volts should be within 10% of nominal values - your Vcc (cpu core voltage(s)) should be within 5% of nominal value(s). Voltages that are too high can do a lot of damage in a short time. If you don't have that in your bios Setup, measure the 12 and 5 volts at the power connectors to a drive - red is +5 volts d.c., yellow is +12 volts d.c., black is negative, probably doesn't matter which one. The PS fan should be spinning at the speed it is supposed to be - some spin according to how warm the PS is, slower when cooler, but it may not have that feature and in that case would spin quite fast. If it spins too slow or has stopped, the PS will overheat and fry itself, malfunction for a while, and eventually die. ..... working but may be sick Sniff the PS fan outlet area with the power off - a strong burnt wiring / burnt plasticy smell indicates the PS has been overheating or has been malfunctioning, regardless of whether the PS fan is spinning properly. With the power off, try turning the PS fan from the back of the case with a pencil or something slim - it should move in jumps, but be easy to turn - if it is hard to turn, the fan has stopped, or it is spinning slower than it should, the PS has overheated and fried itself, and the PS is damaged and dying, or has died.

tried all you suggested nothing changed.Thanks anyway. GeorgeT

Was this computer working okay previously? If so was there an event after which the computer stopped working? Have you been fiddling with anything inside the case, or any bios Setup settings lately? Is this computer's power source protected from voltage surges/spikes? Have there been any power outages of this computer's power source since the computer last worked, or nearby lightning storms?

maybe your motherboard has been damage try to open your pc and look the capcitor if their is a capcitor had been partially pop up well you need to buy new one... but you can replace the busted capcitor it u know? thanks for sharing